Man hit by Sounder train
SEATTLE -- Sounder rail service was briefly disrupted Saturday night when a train hit a man walking near the tracks, trapping him underneath.
The collision happened at about 5:40pm near the Columbia City Station at Martin Luther King Jr. Way South and South Edmunds Street.
Police say the man was walking in a crosswalk near the northbound line when he walked on the tracks in front of an oncoming train.
A spokesman for Sounder Rail said the train operator tried to stop the train, but it was too late.
The impact flung the 45-year-old man underneath the train, trapping him.
Firefighters arrived and freed the man. He was taken to Harborview Medical Center with life-threatening injuries.
The tracks were closed to train traffic while police investigated. Buses took passengers around the closure.
As of about 9:00 Saturday night, rail service had resumed, but the northbound platform at the Columbia City station remained closed.
Seattle Police Detective Mark Jamieson said the agency’s Traffic Collision Investigation Squad was investigating the collision.